Room Acoustics as it relates

to Musical Performance
“The room is an unwanted extra
instrument playing along with the
musicians.”
 Introduction to Acoustics
 Acoustics is the branch of physics that
deals with the study of sound and
mechanical wave movement.
 There are many different branches of
acoustics including Aeroacoustics,
bioacoustics, psychoacoustics, etc. but
we will focus mainly on Architectural
Acoustics.
 Architectural Acoustics
 Architectural Acoustics is the study of how
sound and buildings interact.
 Concert halls, classrooms, auditoriums,
homes, or any other manmade space are
all affected by acoustics, but it is not
always necessary to have good acoustical
principles in the design of the building in
question.
Principles of Architectural Acoustics
 The main concerns of Architectural
Acoustics are:
Building Insulation- Keeping outside noises
out and inside noises in.
Inter Space Noise Control- Keeping noises
centralized in a specific area to increase
privacy or noise management.
Principles of Architectural Acoustics
Internal Room Acoustics- controlling or
tuning the room reverberation time and
echo to increase the intelligibility of speech
and/ or music.
Mechanical Noise Control- controlling and
limiting noises caused by mechanical
devices such as Air Conditioners or
Ventilation.
 Sound Absorption
 If the room is equipped with different
absorbers absorbing different frequencies
to different extents you may "tune" the
room to a certain sound balance by
adjusting the amount of the different type
of absorbers.
 It is harder to absorb bass sounds
between 20 and 200 decibels than it is to
absorb higher pitches.
 Changing direction of Sound
 Sound direction can also be changed by
placing tiles or walls in certain directions.
This is used to allow listeners in “dead
spots” to hear speech or music on a stage.
Particular problem areas for architects
include corners and areas to the side of
the stage.
Architectural Acoustics relation to Music

 When sound hits walls, the ceiling, and the

floor, it changes directions. This can
create unwanted sounds and echos. To
alleviate this, scientists and architects
have come up with several designs that
change the direction of sound, or make it
dissipate through absorption.
 The Ceiling
 Sounds easily reflect off ceiling at different
angles. This may create echoing in the
room when the sound reflects off the same
area and rebounds. In order to solve this,
many architects curve the ceiling to
redirect the sound.
 The Ceiling Continued
 In other cases, architects try to absorb sound in
the roof. They can do this in many different
ways:
Material- The type of material used can absorb
sound differently
Shape- The shape of the ceiling may create voids
where the sound can be trapped.
Position- The position of the ceiling positioning
directly affects how much sound is allowed to be
heard.
 The Walls
 Walls also affect the way sound echoes
and reverberates. Once again, material,
shape, and position can change the
direction of sound or make voids that
absorb sound.
 The Floor
 The floor can be used as an insulator as
well. Softer materials, such as carpets,
tend to absorb sound better than hard
floors. Methods have been developed to
insulate a room through the floor by
placing insulation or creating space
between layers of the floor. This is also
used to absorb sound.
 Works Cited
 http://www.norsonic.com/web_pages/about_building_acoustics.html
 http://www.silcom.com/~aludwig/Room_acoustics.html
 http://home.tir.com/~ms/roomacoustics/roomacoustics.html
 http://www.all-science-fair-
projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Acoustics
 http://carini.physics.indiana.edu/P105S98?Room-acoustics.html
 Vitruvius. Ten Books on Architecture. Interpretation by Ingrid D. Rowland.
University of Cambridge. 1999.
 Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. Dover Publication. 1986. New
York, New York.
 Libeskind, Daniel. The Space of Encouter. Universe Publishing. 2000. New
York, New York.